Correspondence
Jt clear-eyed view Ridgewood, H.h To the Editors: Let us praise Mary Zeiss Stange, whose "Little Shop of Horrors" July 17 has rendered an immense service to truth, art, and religion by...
...Greeley's books lead us into the wonder of his "Greeley-land" and the beauty, style, and grace' of all his heroines enchant us...
...Because most of these bopks 'are- written by female au> 546 CORRESPONDE«CC (Continued from page 546) thors...
...Stange, unless we perhaps fell into the category of being not only oblivious but also insensitive...
...Dean, College of Arts &,Sctence Unmasking fantasy To the Editors: Countiess women as the counUew women happfly read these books...
...To the Editors: It is unfortunate that the term "Feminist" is seemingly becoming an excuse, for unprovoked attacks, both in and out of print, against met...
...Feminist crit§;j .ieem to want heroines who are in control...
...The situations encountered by people who become life-like after the first few pages may be more provocative, perhaps" even more exotic than most of us encounter...
...Jt clear-eyed view Ridgewood, H.h To the Editors: Let us praise Mary Zeiss Stange, whose "Little Shop of Horrors" July 17 has rendered an immense service to truth, art, and religion by revealing Andrew Greeley's nasty little secret: hef really doesn't like women as much as he protests he does...
...Bowling Green, Ohio To the Editors: While Ms...
...We must take strong exception to her claim thatfin his fiction Greeley is "perpetuating, and even claiming sacramental status for, the traditional patriarchal stereotypes of female sexuality...
...Perhaps a little of both...
...The appieal of the Greeley books lies in their honesty of character portrayal, both male and female...
...Stange was unable to perceive this...
...rather it is a beautifully crafted message presenting life as it is with all its flaws and valley* and-yet with a message of hope, love, and joy...
...Actually, it' shouldn't have been that much of a secret sinee the Greeley canon abounds in rape narratives, and his heroines never even get to first base without the protection of a strong and understanding male figure...
...He is Hardly some exploiter, trying to" write pot-boilers/bodice-busters...
...But after all, isn't that part of the feu of reading a good novel...
...And we can thank her for not scrupling to use the ultimate weapon against Greeley's pre-' tensions: quoting him at length...
...This time, of course, the target is Andrew M.Gseeley and his writings, ttowever, the author of this lengtiiy , and tiresome tirade not only insults Greeley and his compelling creativity, she does an equal disservice to his multitude of female readers...
...Stange has done us a valuable service by focusing our attention on a most important dimension of Andrew Greeley's best-selling fiction in her article ["Little Shop of, Horrors'' July 17], she has also done us a disservice by not presenting the issues atheir complete context...
...But not everyone reads texts with as clear an eye as Miss Stange...
...MICHAEL GALLAGHER Enchanting heroines North Massapequa, N.Y...
...The Greeley message is no,t intended to Ik a fairy tale...
...Greeley unmasks fantasy and boldly reveals the true nature of his characters...
...Rape and abuse may be plot devices for creating best-sellers, but from the texts of his non-fictional as well as fictional writing it is clear that he knows women triumph over these things and because of them become more saintiy than a man ever can whateyerme abuses they may suffer...
...Little Shop of Horrors'' by Mary Zeiss Stange, in your July 17 issue, indeed falls into that category...
...The argument that Greeley and even some of the scholars writing about his' work seem to rely heavily on partichal categories of interpretation of literary modes seems silly .— who doesn't...
...There issmtjre God in femaleness than in nMaleness,' aad stories from me dawn of time have eadtedthe message to those who would listen...
...we ate aware that he understands some* thing most women (especially ppaist critics) do not seemloknb know existence...
...Or because the conquered, manipulated Women of such novels are eloquently shrouded in romantic fantasy...
...Bowling Green State university Professor of Popular CuHwe Assoc...
...It is a grace to have bees born female...
...He unpeels the layers of ugliness of each of his characters to...
...Most of whom also consider themselves Feminists, with a capital F. Obviously we would not read ' and enjoy all of his writings, if we agreed with Ms...
...In pdrnography a woman has clett and complete control over herself and mand) And Greely certainly understands, perhaps intui- tively, that* in some mysterious way women do have the upper.hand...
...What a loss that Ms...
...Let's face it, Greeley writes about every human weakness and emotion...
...that simply ain't So...
...ANNE DONLON ACHEN»ACH Women in control...
Vol. 114 • October 1987 • No. 17
